Appraisers say they’re left holding the bag

Head of middleman company paid a settlement in Ponzi scheme this year

James Dusty, an appraiser who’s almost 3,000 miles away, is also ready to write off the loss.

“The problem with the AMC (appraisal-management company) model is that they just come and go,” said Dusty, who’s been in the business for 20 years in Rhode Island. “I have to write off that money. All that money is gone.”

Makkar said the scam is unrelated to his appraisal-management business and that he committed no wrongdoing.

So far, he’s paid $825,000 of the $1.5 million he was ordered to pay by the federal receiver for the fund, said Makkar’s attorney, Gene Iredale. Makkar’s deadline is March 15.

Iredale said his client was among the victims in the scam because he recommended the investment, which records say promised “very high guaranteed returns on investments in a short time frame,” to his friends and family.